Lerchenmüller Consulting

On September 13, 2021, I stepped onto a significant learning curve in starting in my role as IBI’s Executive Director. While still learning about IBI’s history, its programming, the needs of its members and all of the scientific, technical and policy issues that are wrapped up in IBI’s work, I also have had to keep the full portfolio of IBI activities operating and planning for what the organization will look like in the next three to five years.

Doing these two things simultaneously require me to categorize and prioritize the work that is ongoing as well as give attention to the work that IBI might consider taking on in the future. The critical or existential questions are the things that must be done and they must be done thoroughly and well, even at the expense of letting some of the mid-level or lower level priorities go unattended for a short time. The middle level priorities may be difficult to assess but they are likely to produce positive results if they receive the attention they need. The lower priority matters might need attention, but they don’t need it immediately.

Putting this kind of assessment in place is the job of a new Executive Director in tandem with the board. Our goal is to appropriately allocate our resources to deliver programs and practices which are valuable and worthwhile for the biochar community, while at the same time expending our scarce resources carefully and prudently. We are doing this by engaging in an in-depth strategic planning process to lay out a path for our work over the course of the next three to five years.

I have the good fortune of having an expanded level of resources to ramp up more of the good programming that IBI has in place and to consider new and innovative ways to do more work that increases biochar’s prominence globally. We are extremely thankful to the Woka Foundation for the generous grant that it provided to IBI last year to build our capacity and to try to actualize the potential of biochar as a beneficial climate change technology and for the many other productive uses it offers.

IBI’s leadership is now in the process of imagining the future for biochar and developing the strategies, goals and objectives to pursue the right mix of programs to actualize the future we are envisioning. The first step is to decide on a vision of the future. This strategic planning is a top priority and an activity that is deserving of our (nearly) full attention and energy over the past few months and extending over the next several months. Concurrently, we must keep up our ongoing and important work as well as we can during this time of discernment.

The key to all of this is communication. Communication is a two-way street. IBI needs to do a better job of pushing out information, expanding and improving the way we reach out to you, our members, as well as to the world at large. I am very pleased to announce that we have selected and agreed to an employment engagement of a full time Communications Director. We will formally issue an announcement via our website and press release next week once all of the i’s have been dotted and the t’s have been crossed.

There is also a pull element to communication: we want to hear from you, our constituents. We want to know what programs and services are most appropriate to fulfill your needs. In order to do this, IBI’s leadership will be engaging in extensive deep consideration of a range of possible options and conducting assessments of IBI’s portfolio of work. In the next few weeks, we will be posting one or more surveys for you to submit to us your ideas and suggestions for what IBI can do to cultivate and grow the opportunities for biochar. We invite you to take a little time to speak to us through these surveys. We need your input and we hope that we can successfully deliver the kind of results that best serve the interests of our industry on many fronts, not as a singularly focused organization.

So, the theme for IBI’s month of March is communication. We will be working on it and we hope you will take a little time to help us in this effort. Let me thank you ahead of time for your thoughtful and considered suggestions for how we might serve you better and to create a healthier planet.

Thanks,

https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/12/2/186/htm

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The new version of Puro Standard Biochar carbon removal methodology – edition 2022 – is ready to be used! The 2022 edition allows more biomass sources and different technology types to be certified. Therefore, more projects can join the Puro.earth marketplace, and more carbon can be removed from the atmosphere globally. Read the report 👉 https://bit.ly/3sB30pU #carbon #netzero #biochar #carbonremoval #anzbig

Event Date: March 09, 2022 1:00-4:00pm; March 10, 2022 9:00am-4:00pm, Arizona Time

Location: Globe-Miami, AZ

Please register: HERE

Online event link (workshop only): https://arizona.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_0J_EMWEyRfG_TbE6KGB8UQ

More at https://extension.arizona.edu/events/2022-03-09/biochar-workshop-kiln-demonstration

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GIZ (https://www.giz.de/en/html/worldwide.html) has released an updated version of the study that was first published on 17 September 2021. The updated version is at https://wiki.afris.org/display/4COP2/Biochar?preview=/106664891/132324359/Synthesis_paper_biochar_v2.pdf . The main new features are a meta-meta-study and a weighting of how effects of Biochar on soil water balance are evaluated. 

This month researching the biochar situation in Latin America and the Caribbean, I have been working on the database and I’ve been trying to figure out how to collect more information in Latin America and the Caribbean because not all countries respond to the emails or to any platform. Also, this month I’ve been talking to different producers in South America to see how their production is going and responding some questions they have about biochar and the webinars we’ve been having. I see a lot of interest in what’s going on with the production of biochar and as I said I think it’s a really good sign to keep learning and producing more biochar in Latin America. I hope that in the next couple of weeks I can gather more information and make contact with more people in the biochar industry so I can share with you what I found.

Applications: https://apply07.grants.gov/apply/login.faces?oppId=337878&origin=vgo-apply

More at https://thefutureforestcompany.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=76&source=aWQ9MTg%3D

The first Biochar Technology podcast interview features Geoff Lindsay and Anna Grochowska from Vow, a Norwegian company providing an array of biomass and bioenergy solutions. In this episode we focus on their unique pyrolysis technology, originally developed by their French subsidiary Etia. This is called the Spirajoule, which is an electrically heated screw that simultaneously heats, mixes, and moves solids as they are pyrolyzed to become biochar. For more information, visit https://www.biogreen-energy.com/request-form.

Business of Biochar Symposium Recordings

Presentation recordings of The Business of Biochar Symposium, hosted by the International Biochar Initiative and U.S. Biochar Initiative in December 2021, are now available for purchase at $75. Please visit IBI’s website at https://biochar-international.org/the-business-of-biochar-online-symposium/ to purchase and download the recordings.

Image credit: https://sdg.iisd.org/tag/unfccc-cop-27/

More at https://www.bio360expo.com/Default.aspx?language=en

IBI Members: Members may register here by first logging into your membership accounts, then returning to this page for the link or via the Members’ Only website (scroll down to the ‘IBI Webinar Presentations and Questions’ section).

Non-IBI Members: Non-IBI members may register here for a $40 fee.

Call for Papers: Special issue of Process Safety and Environmental Protection

Recent Advances in Thermochemical Transformation of Biomass to Bio-oil, Biochar and Syngas and its Upgrading Methods.

To be within the journal’s scope, papers must take an integrated approach to environmental protection and include relevant engineering aspects. For further details on the scope for papers related to environmental protection, see the journal’s website https://www.journals.elsevier.com/process-safety-and-environmental-protection/

The website for submission to this special issue is https://www.editorialmanager.com/psep/ To ensure that all manuscripts are correctly identified for inclusion in the special issue, the corresponding author should select ‘VSI: Rec Adv Thermo Transf’ when choosing the 'Article Type' during the submission process.

ICIAMMEPISFCPB 2022: 16. International Conference on Innovative Animal Manure Management for Environmental Protection, Improved Soil Fertility, Crop Production and Biochar

  Submit Your Paper Author Registration Listener Registration

About | Venue | Call For Papers | Important Dates | Committees | Registration Fees | Program | Conference Photos | Flyer

The International Research Conference is a federated organization dedicated to bringing together a significant number of diverse scholarly events for presentation within the conference program. Events will run over a span of time during the conference depending on the number and length of the presentations. With its high quality, it provides an exceptional value for students, academics and industry researchers.

Go to https://www.greencarbonwebinar.org/ for the complete schedule to mid-June, login details etc.

*Photos by Unknown photographers licensed under CC BY-SA

Here follow a few examples of the descriptors that are published on the Members section of the IBI website. Papers in this list are from last month’s new ‘biochar’ entries in Google Scholar. Quotes are from the papers, which are accessible through the links provided. These have been extracted by Abhilasha Tripathi PhD Candidate, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur to keep the length of this addendum manageable, yet informative enough to prompt further investigation by readers. Emphasis was placed on highlighting new findings leading to practical application, but with the expectation that decisions will be informed by accessing the full publication.

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Pownraj, C., and A. Valan Arasu. 2022. “A Comprehensive Investigation on Wear and Thermo-Physical Properties of Bio-Char/SAE20W40 Nanolubricant.” Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery. https://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13399-021-02157-7 

From the Abstract: “Due to insulating nature, the bio-char nanoparticles has no charge carriers or phonon vibration. Hence, there is no heat conduction. At the same time, the viscosity index, flash/fire point, and pour point of 0.5 wt. % nanolubricant exhibited better increment of 15.83%, 16.05%, 16.44%, and 40% respectively as compared to base lubricant.”

Zhang, B et al. (2022) “Enhancement of Barrier and Corrosion Protection Performance of Epoxy Coatings through Adding Eco‐friendly Lamellar Biochar.” Wiley Online Library. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/maco.202112697 

From the Abstract: “This study proposes the use of biochar epoxy to boost the barrier properties of the coating, which is both economical and eco-friendly. The incorporation of biochar can reduce the porosity of the coating and complicate the path of the corrosive media towards the steel substrate.”

Kim, D et al. (2022) “Enhanced Hydrogen Production from Anaerobically Digested Sludge Using Microwave Assisted Pyrolysis.” Elsevier. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016236121029513?casa_token=DE1XPXc0a0oAAAAA:9bh3OHtPCyeCkPj3qAW863jjSV7H1rEIOIy9gglkB9teFmINOfV4aaR53Pvl_0UlTuMxgxIfvRc 

From the Abstract: “The yield of 48% H₂ in the gas generated using the MWP significantly surpassed that in the gas produced using CP. When the energy required for increases in temperature and H₂ yield were compared, 800 °C was found to be the optimum temperature for both the methods.”

Ottani, F et al. (2022) “Impacts of Gasification Biochar and Its Particle Size on the Thermal Behavior of Organic Waste Co-Composting Process.” Elsevier. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969722001115 

From the Abstract: “Biochar at 3% w/w enhanced thermal energy generation of organic composting by 15.0%."

Zaitun, Z, A Halim, … Y Sa’dah - IOP Conference Series, (2022) “Surface Morphology Properties of Biochar Feedstock for Soil Amendment.” iopscience.iop.org. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1755-1315/951/1/012034/meta 

From the Abstract: “the biochar surface morphology properties were influenced by the feedstock types and pyrolysis temperature. The pores development and mineral contents in coconut shell biochar are the most suitable for soil amendment.”

Wang, W, D Li, et al. “Discarded-Leaves Derived Biochar for Highly Efficient Solar Water Evaporation and Clean Water Production: The Crucial Roles of Graphitized Carbon.” Elsevier. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927775722000917?casa_token=T50m3Zj34W4AAAAA:hMPD2_txlhpsFIefdbawq7jotwbP3-T1jY4-IQQvnsRLuz9i0YWVBKRzBz-3GBd5BEQ2wLs87h4 

From the Abstract: “Leaf biochar with a calcination temperature of 800 ℃ (BC-800) achieves solar evaporation efficiency up to 65.64% under 1.37 sun illumination, and it has an evaporation rate of 1.32 kg·m⁻²·h⁻¹. Furthermore, BC-800 shows a removal rate of about 99.00% in the purification of metal ions, which can effectively reduce the ion concentration in seawater for desalination.”

Rubén Ramos, Víctor K. Abdelkader-Fernández, et al: “Metal-Supported Biochar Catalysts for Sustainable Biorefinery, Electrocatalysis, and Energy Storage Applications: A Review” https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4344/12/2/207?type=check_update&version=2

From the Abstract: “In the context of green and sustainable future development, activated and functionalized biochars with abundant surface functional groups and large surface area can act as effective catalysts or catalyst supports for chemical transformation of a range of bioproducts in biorefineries.”

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